If the world is to confront the challenges of mitigating and adapting to climate change while meeting the demands of a rapidly-growing global population, it is vital that we find the balance between conserving and regenerating forest areas with economic growth for poverty reduction. This is what the World Bank’s work on forests aims to achieve.
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Brasilia, February 19, 2015 – During the week of February 23-28, a delegation of government and private sector leaders from Ethiopia and Mozambique will visit Brazil to exchange knowledge and experien... Show More +ce on sustainable forest plantations.The delegation will meet and discuss with government officials from the federal government and the state of Espirito Santo, and as well representatives of research institutions and private sector entities to discuss best practices, policies, and incentives in promoting the forestry sector and how forest plantations can help improve management of natural resources, particularly native forests while promoting rural development.“African economies and their rural population could benefit from sustainable forest plantations”, said Mark Lundell, Country Director for the World Bank in Mozambique. “This is particularly relevant for plantations that include smallholders in the supply chain of different forest products. This could be an important policy option to generate jobs and income in rural areas, while also contributing to reducing pressure on existing forests”.Brazil is chosen as a host country due to its internationally recognized capacity in the planted forest sector. “Brazil has developed state of the art knowledge in forest management, harvesting and wood transport. It is often seen as a benchmark by other tree growing companies all over the world”, said Magda Lovei, Practice Manager, World Bank. “This is one of the reasons we are working with our client countries in Africa to foster South-South learning and knowledge sharing”.The knowledge exchange will enable participants to:Increase knowledge on how re/afforestation activities and sustainable forest plantations can contribute to poverty reduction, focusing on the participation of smallholders and small industrial wood consumers, and their integration into timber supply chains;increase awareness on fast-growing species applicable to smallholder forestry and latest technologies in silviculture – the practice of controlling the health, and quality of forests to meet diverse needs and values, and its integration with surrounding natural ecosystems;discuss public policies and incentives to help foster forest plantations by the private sector; andlearn about innovative sources of financing and tools to improve the investment climate for forest activities and wood industry.The visit is expected to establish a broad network of stakeholders and strengthen lasting partnerships between Brazil, Ethiopia and Mozambique.“I expect to obtain practical knowledge on how to sustainably manage forests with strong community participation,” said Darlindo Ernesto da Conceicao Pechisso, Head of Forest Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mozambique. “The exchange and discussions among peers will hopefully generate ideas that can be replicated in the Mozambican context and support our efforts to create sustainable forest plantations”.“The study tour is closely linked to ongoing World Bank forestry operations in both countries”, says André Aquino, Sr. Natural Resources Management Specialist at the World Bank. “Forest plantations for different purposes are an important element of sustainable landscapes. They can reduce pressure on existing native forests while generating much needed rural employment and income.”For more information, please visit: www.worldbank.org/Visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/worldbankafricaBe updated via Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/worldbankafricaFor our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/worldbank Show Less -

This paper investigates the
effectiveness of protected areas in slowing tropical forest
clearing in 64 countries in Asia/Pacific, Africa, and Latin
America for the ... Show More +period 2001-2012. The investigation compares
deforestation rates inside and within 10 kilometers outside
the boundary of protected areas. Annual time series of these
deforestation rates were constructed from recently published
high-resolution data on forest clearing. For 4,028 parks,
panel estimation based on a variety of park characteristics
was conducted to test if deforestation is lower in protected
areas because of their protected status, or if other factors
explain the difference. For a sample of 726 parks
established since 2002, a test also was conducted to
investigate the effect of park establishment on protection.
The findings suggest park size, national park status, and
management by indigenous people all have significant
association with effective protection across regions. For
the Asia/Pacific region, the test offers compelling evidence
that park establishment has a near-immediate and powerful effect. Show Less -

WASHINGTON, September 22, 2014—As more than 120 world leaders converge on New York this week for an unprecedented UN climate summit, one highly significant voice needs to be heard. That voice be... Show More +longs to Africa. In all the global discussions around rising sea levels, shrinking rain forests, imperiled species and biodiversity, green bonds and carbon prices, Africa’s unique stake and contribution to a global climate strategy needs to be more front and center. This is only right for a continent that has contributed the least to the profound changes underway in the Earth’s climate but whose people will suffer its withering impact the most.Consider that Africa is responsible for only 3.8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions yet from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa to the south of the continent, African countries experience first-hand the devastating effects of increasingly severe droughts and floods and more extreme weather patterns that scorch or drown their crops. Africa’s political and business leaders are already committed to a climate-resilient growth path, yet the path promises to be bumpy. Recent World Bank research outlines a disturbing scenario for Sub-Saharan Africa in a 2°C warmer world, forecasting dramatic effects on agriculture and food production in a region where 80 percent of Africans rely on agriculture to make ends meet for their families. Consequently, we cannot separate agriculture and food security from climate change. Agriculture in Africa accounts for 30-40 percent of GDP. A 1.5°C to 2°C increase in temperature by the 2030s and 2040s will lead to a 40- to 80-percent reduction in the area of land suitable for growing maize, millet and sorghum. These cereals are the mainstay of African diets. They provide the bulk of people’s daily food intake especially in the drylands of the Sahel and the Horn of Africa. We must also amplify the links between climate change and conflict. In a groundbreaking 2013 paper published in Science magazine, economists Solomon Hsiang, Marshall Burke, and Edward Miguel argued that there is strong evidence linking climatic events to human conflict in Africa and across all other major regions of the world. The magnitude of climate change is substantial they wrote: for each one standard deviation change in climate toward warmer temperatures or more extreme rainfall, median estimates indicate that the frequency of interpersonal violence rises 4% and the frequency of intergroup conflict rises 14%.Africa’s harsher climate of the future will also change traditional livelihoods. As temperatures rise, Africa’s iconic savanna grasslands will dry up and threaten the livelihoods of their pastoral communities. Given the sensitivity of livestock—their goats, cows, and other animals—to extreme heat, too little water and feed, and disease, pastoralism as a centuries-old way of life is likely to be in danger.Rainfall patterns will dramatically change; droughts and floods will be more frequent and lead to a 3-percent expansion in total arid areas. Coastal populations in Guinea-Bissau, Gambia and Mozambique would face the greatest risk of inundation and storm surges. Coastal erosion represents a major threat as a large part of Africa’s GDP derives from activities such as fishing, tourism and trade. Entire cities and villages along the coast – capital cities and crucial deep-sea ports -- could be wiped out due to rising sea-levels. Countries such as Togo, Ghana and Mozambique could lose more than 50 percent of their coastal GDP, according to recent estimates. Sustainable management of the region’s rich natural resources—forests, water, land—can contribute to the storage of carbon, while supporting livelihoods and generating economic benefits. Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world, also harbors 5 percent of the world’s known biodiversity. Before the country’s political crisis, nature-based tourism was a $500-million industry, growing at 10 percent per year. But the island is also on the list of the most climate change-vulnerable countries which will have a significant impact on its biodiversity.Africa is one of the world’s fastest-urbanizing continents. Parched rural hinterlands will steadily force people to move to already-crowded cities, creating overcrowding, stressing supplies of safe drinking water and drainage and sanitation.At the African Union Summit in Malabo, last June, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete reminded his audience that the “effects of climate change are likely to strike to the detriment of the whole continent". He added that Africa now requires in excess of US$15 billion per year to combat climate change, a figure that continues to rise.The good news is that Africa is uniquely well positioned to build resilience, especially in energy and agriculture, and has already embraced sustainability. Being green is good for business. In Kenya, small farmers are now earning carbon credits from sustainable farming. In South Africa, the city of Johannesburg recently issued its first green city bond to finance low-carbon infrastructure. In Mauritania, solar energy now powers 30 percent of Nouakchott’s energy use. In Africa, wind and solar potential can be over 1,000 GW but needs to be fully exploited.The continent has embarked on a clean power revolution that brings more electricity to people’s homes, businesses, clinics and schools. With only one in three Africans having access to energy, the task is urgent. Africa has tremendous untapped hydro, geothermal, and solar power and must be developed to provide the electricity needed to offer sustained – and green – growth for the benefit of all its citizens.The World Bank is stepping up to the challenge. We are financing transformational projects that attack poverty from multiple angles. We are supporting governments to promote “climate-smart agriculture” so that African farmers can achieve higher yields and make their farming more resilient to the changing climate. In DRC, a $73.1-million technical assistance project will pave the way to bring hydroelectric power to 9 million people. These interventions are just a starting point – not nearly enough to address the monumental energy needs of the continent. Though prices for renewables have declined significantly in the past decade, these energy sources are still costly. The green energy revolution in African cannot be achieved without financial support of the international community, to bring down the costs of adopting these clean technologies. The warning signs are clear: climate change under even the 2°C scenario is a menacing threat to sustainable development in Africa. These impacts could potentially overwhelm existing development efforts. We ignore the early warning signs at our collective peril. But, through collective action, we can ensure a climate-resilient future that benefits all Africans and the entire planet. Show Less -

WASHINGTON, August 27 , 2014 – The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a total of US$9.3 million in trust fund grants for the Government of Rwanda to help boost land management of... Show More + the Gishwati and Mukura forests and improve the environment, local livelihoods, and climate resilience.This area has lost most of its natural forest in recent decades, and has suffered from severe soil erosion, landslides and floods. But some patches of native forest remain, alongside important biodiversity, including a small population of chimpanzees.The financing in the form of grants from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) will support the Landscape Approach to Forest Restoration and Conservation Project. It will increase the number and diversity of trees to help improve soil fertility, stabilize slopes, regulate stream flow and expand the resource base for local livelihoods.The project will also focus on rehabilitating the forests and its biodiversity, improving sustainable land management and agroforestry, and introducing silvo-pastoral approaches. This will be complemented by direct support to community livelihoods, improved flood forecasting and preparedness, and investments in terracing to prevent land erosion. “The long-term vision is that protecting the Gishwati-Mukura area’s soil, water, forest and scenic riches will support a diverse and profitable economy, and ultimately boost tourism along the Lake Kivu shore. Project activities and coordinated planning across government agencies will play a major role in meeting this goal” said Stephen Ling, World Bank team leader for the project.The rural residents living in the Gishwati-Mukura area, a quarter of whom make up the poorest people as well as those who farm on land highly vulnerable to natural disasters, will benefit directly from increased agricultural production through improved land management, livelihoods diversification and improved flood warning and response systems. Show Less -

GEF Grant: US $5.487 million equivalentLeast Developed Countries' Fund (LDCF) grant: US $4.045 million equivalentProject ID: P131464Project Description: The objective of the project is to boost land m... Show More +anagement of the Gishwati and Mukura forests and improve the environment, local livelihoods, and climate resilience. Show Less -

“Ethiopia has set a course on a development path to build a resilient, carbon-neutral economy by 2025. Long-term sustainable management of the country’s land and forests is one of the key pillar... Show More +s for achieving our vision for shared prosperity and poverty reduction,” said His Excellency Ato Kebede Yimam, Ethiopia’s State Minister for Forests.In the 1990s, Participatory Forest Management (PFM) was introduced in Ethiopia to tackle severe forest loss resulting from escalating demand for fuel wood and for land for crop production and grazing. Considering that Ethiopia lost large tracts of its forest area since the 1950s, new and effective ways were urgently needed to manage the remaining forest areas (where coffee originated) and to reduce the degradation and loss of fertile land.In areas where these innovations were introduced, communities have experienced positive impacts, not only in terms of increased prosperity, but also in terms of social empowerment. The key to success was the participatory process where forest and land management plans were developed jointly by communities and local governments, spelling out rights and responsibilities for both sides. Ethiopia’s vision of sustainable landscapes is well placed to integrate PFM with a range of other techniques for land restoration, water retention, and promotion of new energy sources that can help reduce deforestation, improve land use, protect soil and water resources, and improve livelihoods. Ethiopia is now using community-based models to rehabilitate forested landscapes on a wider scale. In the north, Ethiopia’s agricultural and forested landscapes are undergoing a transformation supported by the sustainable land management program implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture. The World Bank and other development partners, including Norway, Germany and Global Environment Facility (GEF), are helping to blend financing in innovative ways to support this national vision. Looking forward, the vision of increasing benefits from sustainable landscapes - including poverty reduction and shared prosperity – can be achieved through the integrated efforts of Government agencies in partnership with communities. “PFM has promoted community awareness about how forests control land degradation, maintain healthy landscapes and sustain food and energy security,” said Ato Ararsa, Deputy Director General of Ethiopia’s Oromia Forest and Wildlife Enterprise. “With PFM, communities can diversify and enhance their sources of income, improve social capital and build resilience to droughts and floods.”The regional state of Oromia harbors 60% of the country’s remaining forest and has seen successful PFM pilots. Building on this success, the government now wants to scale up and replicate this effort.Recognizing the fact that development efforts need to take an integrated approach to address the complex and intertwined issues of deforestation, environmental degradation and rural poverty, an ambitious landscape-level program will be implemented in Oromia Regional State. The program aims to break down sectoral silos and foster cross-sectoral institutional coordination with the aim to protect forest, stimulate green growth, enhance food security, and rural livelihoods.The $10 million grant for the forest sector is a strategic complement to the existing large portfolio of World Bank financial and advisory support to the country on sustainable landscapes. One example is the second phase of the Ethiopia Sustainable Land Management Project (SLMP-2), financed through the regional World Bank-GEF Sahel and West Africa Program (SAWAP) in support of the Great Green Wall Initiative. SAWAP is a second generation TerrAfrica investment of $1.1 billion financed by the International Development Association (IDA), GEF, and trust funds, and supports the implementation of a country-driven vision of integrated natural resources management for sustainable and climate-resilient development in twelve African countries. Show Less -

Protecting a Global Public Good with Information and Innovation“Natural resource law enforcement is a global public good and not enough is being done in this area,” says William Magrath, Lead Nat... Show More +ural Resources Economist, The World Bank. “Many of the most damaging environmental crimes involve transnational activities, such as smuggling, where the effectiveness of the authorities in any one country is inherently limited. There are big gaps when it comes to financing, policy and capacity, which is why the environment sector in developing countries is more vulnerable to crime than other sectors and international cooperation is essential."The Bank actively identifies investment and policy reform needs so that it can help fill the gaps. Because there is little information on wildlife crimes and networks, the Bank is funding the ICCWC’s work to establish a mechanism for criminal intelligence. To address the lack of country data, the ICCWC’s analysis of wildlife law enforcement in Peru, Bangladesh, Nepal and Tanzania is also being financed by the Bank.The Bank also supports innovative approaches in the fight against wildlife crime, including the development of forensic technology that now allows prosecutors to determine the origins of ivory. In 2013, this type of DNA analysis was used on three large ivory seizures, and provided prosecutors in Togo with scientific evidence to build a strong case against one of West Africa’s largest ivory dealers.Helping Countries Prevent, Detect and Respond to Environmental CrimesThe Bank focuses its efforts on environment and natural resource crime prevention. Magrath says, "The Bank believes that good resource management that involves and benefits local communities helps crowd out illegal activity." The Bank's support to forest resource inventories, wildlife population studies, management planning and approaches such as community forestry should be seen as contributing to crime prevention and law enforcement.Aside from crime prevention, the Bank also helps governments grow capacity in environmental crime detection. The Bank has helped governments enhance coastal patrols and control illegal fishing in nine West African countries including Cape Verde, Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Fishermen along the coast have benefited from bigger catches, which have not only boosted incomes but also created jobs in fishing supply stores and trucking operations that transport fish to markets. In Liberia, the Program on Forests, a partnership hosted by the Bank, helped put in place a sophisticated log-tracking system that keeps illegal wood from being exported. When prevention fails, governments need to be able to respond to crimes. This is why the Bank supports socially responsible police work. In Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan, the Bank has worked with governments to strengthen law enforcement agencies, improve regional cooperation against wildlife trafficking and provide rangers with the training and equipment they need to protect animals such as tigers and rhinoceroses. The Bank has also helped protect forests and protected areas in Southeast Asia by supporting the establishment of a forest police agency in LAO PDR and a forest crime monitoring system in Cambodia.Safeguarding Natural Resources for Future GenerationsThe desire to protect natural resources for future generations is at the heart of the Bank’s fight against environment and natural resources crime. The destruction of just one part of an ecosystem could mean that communities have less wood for shelter, raw material for livelihoods, and food to eat.Beneficiaries of Bank projects confirm that depleted resources are not an option for the world’s poorest. "Without fish, it would be very, very bad," says Addie, who saw how the Bank's work to control illegal fishing helped increase fish stocks in Freetown, Sierra Leone. "For most, fish is the only protein available. Without the fish, we would get thin and weak—we would die." Show Less -

Strategic Climate Fund Grant: US $36.9 million equivalentProject ID: P128887 Project Description: The objective of the project is to test new approaches to improve community livelihoods... Show More + and forested landscape management, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in the DRC. Show Less -

WASHINGTON, June 24, 2014—The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$36.9 million climate trust fund grant to help the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) pilot... Show More + new approaches to improve livelihoods and forested landscape management, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.“The Government of DRC is committed to protecting the environment and sustaining the fight against climate change,” said Eustache Ouayoro, The World Bank Country Director for the DRC. “This project will contribute to addressing the challenges of food security, access to energy, and poverty reduction for the benefit of the local population.”The Improved Forested Landscape Management Project which is part of the Forest Investment Program (FIP) will tackle the top two direct drivers of deforestation and forest degradation through investments in alternative farming methods and in improved quality cookstoves.The project will support community-level natural resource management and finance investments to combat deforestation and forest degradation in the Plateau District of the Bandundu Province. Through the use of matching grants to private initiatives the project will help increase the sustainable production of charcoal throughout the DRC. It will also focus specifically on the city of Kinshasa to reduce charcoal consumption with the creation of a National Alliance for Improved Cookstoves. The project will also give technical support to farmers and farmers’ organizations to promote agro-forestry and test new agriculture systems in the Bas Congo Province.These approaches will test different REDD+ policies, an international mechanism that is based on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and the promotion of conservation of forest carbon stocks, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries. “The project will complement the Bank’s support to increase government capacity and strengthen governance in the forest sector,” said Laurent Valiergue, The World Bank Task Team Leader for the project. “In addition, it will help DRC to maintain its position as a global leader in climate change mitigation and REDD+.”The DRC is one of the eight pilot countries currently eligible to benefit from the Forest Investment Program (FIP), a multi-donor trust fund that supports developing countries’ efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation by providing financing for investments. Show Less -

Mrs. Souaré is one of many residents in rural areas of Senegal who have benefited from the World Bank sponsored Second Sustainable and Participatory Energy Management Project (PROGEDE-2). Building on ... Show More +the successful PROGEDE-1, PROGEDE-2 is community-focused and designed to preserve the overall forest ecosystems that many poor rural Senegalese families rely on.PROGEDE-2 activities have also helped families to diversify their household fuel needs away from wood, supported beekeepers to modernize their craft, and brought improved seeds and larger yields to farmers. And with the support of ESMAP’s Africa Renewable Energy Access (AFREA) Gender and Energy program, PROGEDE-2 was able to integrate gender considerations into the project design and results framework to ensure that the project reached out to rural women.At a recent visit to Tambacounda, Mor Ngom, Senegal’s Minister of the Environment and Sustainable Development celebrated the achievements of PROGEDE-2, which he called the flagship forest management project of the Government of Senegal. Ngom said he supports diligent monitoring of Forest Code reforms and forest taxation. Through PROGEDE-2, the government's policy on forest management, decentralization and participation will provide opportunities for grassroots communities to reap the benefits of the forest resources on their land, Ngom added.“In Senegal, participating communities have embraced PROGEDE-2, which has resulted in a significant drop in deforestation, improved participation of women in business ventures, gender equity in forest management committees, and a sharp boost in family incomes,” said Vera Songwe, World Bank Country Director for Senegal. “We hope that the government will make every effort to support continuation of the project and to spread these achievements throughout the country.”Managing the ForestsToday Senegal’s trees are rapidly disappearing due to overuse from a growing population, and deforestation is a major environmental challenge. Some 58% of households rely on firewood for fuel while 26% use charcoal produced from wood. The government has decentralized the oversight of the forests and now community-driven forest management committees oversee forest management plans in the participating regions, where some 80% of the country’s forest stand is located.This community oversight is also helping to break the monopoly of charcoal traders, who send workers into the forests to cut down swaths of trees, truck the charcoal to cities, and resell the charcoal at high prices to urban households. “The monopoly of charcoal traders is progressively being broken down since the establishment of the project's community based forest management systems,” Seck says.PROGEDE-2 also promises significant climate mitigation gains: scientists agree that as much as 30% of carbon dioxide emissions over the past 150 years have been the result of deforestation. As of 2013, roughly 520,500 hectares of forest are managed in a sustainable way, and community sustainable forest management plans have helped to protect 23,700 total hectares of forest from deforestation in the targeted regions.Diversifying Household Energy SourcesA key goal of PROGEDE-2 is to modernize household energy use in rural Senegal with improved stoves that can also burn charcoal briquettes. Cooking indoors on these stoves is much healthier for families, especially children, because they generate much less smoke compared with cooking over a wood fire. Biogas, or gas produced from organic matters such as manure or vegetable waste, is another fuel alternative, and some 520 biogas systems that are being established in communities provide gas for cooking and electricity. Many of the systems operate on cow dung, gathered by farmers each morning and shoveled into a small-scale digester. Over time the waste is metabolized into a methane-rich gas for energy, and nitrogen-rich slurry, which can be used for fertilizer.The biogas technology can be mainstreamed countrywide to benefit other poor and vulnerable households, Seck says. Both technologies directly improve the lives of women and girls who spend hours each day fetching wood for the family’s heating and cooking needs.As many as 250,000 Senegalese are involved in PROGEDE-2 activities, and a survey of community incomes shows that the charcoal making revenues going to the villages rose from 6% in 2009 to 52% in 2013. The total revenue coming from the charcoal value chain and eco-friendly income generating activities increased from $18 million to $23 million during the same time period for all of the participating communities.Rural residents are using some of this income to purchase equipment to contain bush fires, to purchase bicycles for transportation, and to construct buildings where forest management inter-village committees can gather. “With a significant boost to rural incomes, PROGEDE-2 has helped to establish a sustainable income base in rural Senegal and created a new demand for energy, making the 317 project villages prime candidates for rural electrification and increased access to other modern energy services,” Seck says.Steps Toward Modern Beekeeping and FarmingIn addition to improved forest and fuels management, PROGEDE-2 has enabled many villages to modernize the practices of beekeepers that wear protective suits to harvest honey from the improved beehives. In the past years, harvesters set smoking fire beneath the beehives to scatter the bees, which oftentimes ignited to a bush fire that rapidly spread far beyond the hives. Local farmers would let the fire burn because they had no stake in keeping the forest healthy.“Ever since we began the community forest management systems, no beehive driven fire burn has been reported to us, simply because villagers are now fully aware and sensitized that the forest brings income to the villages. Now people have banned such practice, and whenever it occurs they will all run and put out a fire right away,” Seck says.The project also invigorated farming in the regions, with new seeds, fertilizers and crop rotation to keep the soil healthy, which boosts crop productivity. Pilot gardens in participating communities now grow tomatoes and peppers, and fruits such as mangoes and oranges, providing families with food and extra crops to sell to communities outside the project region. Families also benefit from improved animal husbandry such as livestock vaccination and artificial insemination.Increasing Youth and Women’s ParticipationMrs. Souaré’s success in charcoal production is even more stunning because the charcoal production jobs in Senegal have in past been strictly for men, Seck says. Now with training for the entire charcoal value chain supported by the project, some 1,018 women have emerged as charcoal producers, while the share of total community income going to women has risen from 3% in 2009 to 12% in 2013 with additional increases expected in the years to come.PROGEDE-2’s focus on gender sensitivity has also affected the bodies tasked with forest management: results show that gender parity – with 50% women and 50% men – exists in village contact groups, the General Assembly, and the Executive Board, and women make up 30 to 50% of those participating in forest management steering committees, depending on the area.To share news of their success, a group of rural women traveled to Dakar to join the regional AFREA Gender and Energy workshop where participants from Senegal, Mali, Benin, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia discussed gender issues within their energy programs.Seck says the PROGEDE-2 is fostering a lasting, positive impact on the rural poor.“Although youth immigration to Europe or other developed countries to get jobs and a better life remains an on-going problem in Senegal, thanks to PROGEDE-2, wealth is created within rural communities in project targeted areas,” he said. “In fact, many young people told us that they would just rather stay in their village and participate in these activities to improve their living conditions. The project is very supportive, and today they and their families are very happy.” Show Less -

Wealth and World Bank Group’s twin goalsThe analyses of 136 countries compiled in the Little Green Data Book found that the share of countries with wealth depletion decreases as income levels increase... Show More +, indicating that poorer countries face severe sustainability challenges. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 28 countries were found to be depleting their wealth in 2010.These findings point to the need for including sustainability as part of the equation. The goals of the World Bank Group are to eradicate poverty and promote shared prosperity. In a world of finite planetary boundaries and natural resources it is important that any progress made toward these twin goals can be sustained in the long run and does not come at the cost of natural capital.To operationalize the twin goals, two indicators—the number of people in extreme poverty and the income growth of the bottom 40 percent—were introduced with their adoption in April 2013. Yet measuring progress toward these goals requires a better understanding of the sustainability dimensions of progress, with measurable indicators."The World Bank has been constructing a global database of country-level comprehensive wealth measures since the 1990s.But this is the first systematic attempt at including wealth indicators in World Bank business," said Glenn-Marie Lange, head of the World Bank’s environmental economics and policy team. Influencing dialogue with countriesIn recent years, the demand for analysis using wealth indicators has grown and is helping resource-rich countries such as Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Liberia, Mauritania, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and Timor L'Este, among others, to manage their natural capital, including minerals, forests, and fisheries. This has helped strengthen the World Bank’s dialogue with countries about linking economic growth and sustainable development strategies.Increasingly, countries want and need greener and more inclusive growth, as well as better ways to measure it. Several countries are working with Wealth Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES), a World Bank-led global partnership, to include the value of natural capital in their national accounts and economic decision making.The Little Green Data Book has data on other key sectors such as agriculture, forests and biodiversity, energy and emissions, water and sanitation, environment and health and oceans. Since the publication was launched in 2000, it has helped countries get a snapshot of their environmental data to get a more comprehensive picture of their economies. Show Less -

Natural Capital Accounting Taking Hold Across the GlobeIn the Philippines, one of WAVES’ eight core implementing countries, NCA is taking hold. “Governments and the private sector are being ... Show More +challenged to incorporate NCA into development planning,” said Emmanuel F. Esguerra, Deputy Director General of the Philippines National Economic and Development Authority. “Now we have the resources to build capacity.” Esguerra said important lessons that have come out of NCA are the need for strong government ownership, the early involvement of stakeholders and strong collaboration with experts and partners. He said the path to making NCA the "new normal" would not be a straight line because the challenges are different in every country.Many other country examples were presented to a packed auditorium on the opening day of the partnership meeting. For example:In Guatemala, the forest account showed that the country’s deforestation rate was the highest in Central and South America with the majority of uncontrolled logging being done by households for their basic cooking needs. The information has fueled strategies to control the use of firewood and unauthorized logging, a review of the forestry law, updated regulations, and the support to negotiate greater budget resources for these initiatives.In Indonesia, the government was “shocked” to find out the value of standing timber in Borneo was US$28 billion—over three times the potential revenue from logging the forest and replacing it with oil palm.In Botswana, the first set of water accounts is helping the government understand who the main water users are in the country and whether there is room to expand economic sectors like agriculture and tourism.In the Philippines, 60 percent of GDP is fueled by industries and associated services in the Laguna Lake region outside of Manila. Ecosystem accounts will be instrumental in determining how to manage this resource and “realize the cost of inaction.” Additionally, there is a moratorium on mining activity because legislators feel the profits haven't benefited local communities or the government. NCA can help inform this debate by presenting accurate data on mineral resources.In his first public address, Madagascar’s incoming Minister of Economy and Planning, Herilanto Raveloharison, committed to make NCA a priority and that WAVES would be instrumental in the country’s development plan and fight against poverty.“In Colombia, we look at accounts as a tool rather than an end in itself. They give more political power to Colombia’s natural capital at a critical point in time when we are losing 3.5% of GDP to environmental degradation. This is a red flag,” said Neider Eduardo Abello Aldana, head of the Green and Sustainable Business Office within Colombia's Ministry of Environment.Other topics discussed at the meeting included: the role of the private sector in NCA, how NCA can contribute to the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, and how international organizations help countries go beyond GDP.WAVES plans to increase the number of core implementing countries while raising awareness globally on the concept of looking “beyond GDP” for a more complete picture of growth and well-being. WAVES also partners with UN agencies—UNEP, UNDP, and the UN Statistical Commission—that are helping to implement natural capital accounting. Show Less -

Bank Group ContributionThe overall WB biodiversity portfolio of 245 projects in the ten years from FY2004 to 2013 included direct biodiversity commitments worth over US$ 1 billion. Of this, 27 percent... Show More + came from GEF funds, while 69 percent came from IBRD/IDA. These projects have taken place in 74 countries in all six of the WBG’s regions. Most projects were in the Africa and in the Latin America and Caribbean regions, which between them accounted for more than two thirds of biodiversity projects. In 2013, new biodiversity commitments amounted to US$ 35 million relatively low compared to previous years, but the current pipeline contains projects worth US$ 269 million.PartnersGlobal and regional partnerships are playing an important role in promoting biodiversity conservation. Some of the key partnerships are as follows:The Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund (CEPF) has brought together the governments of France and Japan together with the MacArthur Foundation, the European Commission and Conservation International, and awarded grants to over 1,600 civil society organizations to reduce threats to 21 critically endangered hotspots.The Global Tiger Initiative launched in 2008 has helped strengthen political ownership by the 13 tiger countries of their endangered tiger populations.The Save our Species (SOS) program seeks to leverage private sector engagement for funding for threatened species and has provided support to 75 species across 34 countries to date.The International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime is a collaborative effort of five inter-governmental organizations to bring coordinated support to national wildlife law enforcement agencies and sub-regional networks. Moving ForwardGoing forward, Bank investments in biodiversity will build on our comparative advantage as an institution that sets the benchmark for public development finance globally. The World Bank’s leadership and coordinating role within the donor community, complemented by access to trust funds and lending resources, can help mainstream biodiversity within national agendas as a critical part of sustainable development.Four areas of emphasis have emerged from our decades of experience investing in biodiversity and ecosystem services:(1) addressing policy failures through the design and application of new tools (e.g. to implement natural capital accounting), financing instruments (especially Development Policy Operations (DPOs), and partnerships (e.g. Wealth Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services WAVES), and the Global Partnership for Oceans);(2) strengthening governance and the role of public sector agencies in partnership with the private sector and civil society, focusing in particular on improving systems of governance and institution-building;(3) building resilience through investments in biodiversity and ecosystem services across landscapes in close collaboration with other sectors, particularly through the use of land-use planning, moving beyond sector silos, and mainstreaming the use of green infrastructure to reduce the exposure of physical and social capital to external shocks; and(4) reducing governments’ exposure to volatile boom-and-bust financing by creating, piloting and mainstreaming financial mechanisms that enable long-term investment in nature and create financial flows from biodiversity and ecosystem services.Beneficiaries“Training on navigation is used quite a lot during patrols. We’ve also been able to use training in the arrest of suspects through ambushes and takedowns. We’ve also found training in reconnaissance and first aid to be very helpful as well,” remarked Salak Chairacha, Enforcement Ranger Patrol Team Leader, TLNP.“It’s been a rigorous process but the long-term engagement of SOS over two years has meant we could take the time to build the formal partnerships and relationships we needed. Now we have a strong foundation for the future,” says Mr. Brad Rutherford, Executive Director of the Snow Leopard Trust. The community programmes launched with SOS support are being recognised as a key part of Pakistan’s strategy for meeting its national snow leopard survival objectives as well as the goals set by the Global Snow Leopard Forum. Show Less -

World Bank ContributionOver the past ten years, IBRD/IDA commitments to agriculture have increased significantly (with some fluctuations) from US$1.5 billion in FY04 to a high of US$4.2 billion ... Show More +in FY12 and $2.5 billion in FY13 (In FY12 and FY13 IDA commitments to agriculture were $2.9 billion and $1.5 billion respectively.) While assistance figures increased steadily, agriculture’s share of total IBRD/IDA assistance remained the same, at 8 percent over the periods FY04-08 and FY09-13. The largest share of agricultural resources has gone to Sub-Saharan Africa (34 percent in FY09-13, up from 24 percent in FY04-08), while South Asia was the second largest beneficiary. Since FY04, irrigation and drainage, and general agriculture together represent about 51 percent of IBRD/IDA funding for agriculture (Figure 1). IDA and the IBRD responded rapidly to the 2008/09 food price crisis through the World Bank's Global Food Crisis Response Program (GFRP). The GFRP has reached 66 million people in 49 countries through $1.6 billion in emergency support, including US$339.3 million in donor-supported trust funds. The Bank’s strength lies in its capacity to back its financial support with other mechanisms designed to promote strategic focus, including capacity building, inclusive development, and coordination of investment and policy reform activities in client countries. Development policy lending to agriculture almost tripled from an average of US$491 million over FY04-08 to US$1,106 million over FY09-13. Development policy operations generally provide quick access to financial assistance in support of a range of development objectives that require underlying medium-term policy and institutional activity. This approach is critical in smallholder agriculture where a large number of actions need to occur in sequence to allow farmers to produce more and to sell into expanding, but more demanding, agricultural markets. Interest in farmland is rising due to rising food and fuel prices, biofuel mandates, food security concerns, and worries about climate change effects on scarce resources. As a result there is a particular need to secure the assets of the poor. Inappropriate land policies are a serious constraint on economic and social development. Actions to improve security, access, and transferability of land increase the value of household assets, generate higher levels of investment and agricultural productivity, and facilitate access to credit. As of January 2014, 19 projects addressing these issues with net commitments of $771 million are under supervision. To feed a growing population by 2050, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) estimates private sector agricultural investment alone must rise by nearly 50 percent. Working with larger-scale farming systems is one of many tools to promote sustainable agricultural and rural development, but this must be done right. Large-scale land acquisitions should not disadvantage smallholder farmers who depend on land for their livelihoods, or compromise the rights of local communities. The World Bank Group does not support speculative land investments or acquisitions that take advantage of weak institutions in developing countries or which disregard principles of responsible agricultural investment. The World Bank Group has actively supported preparation and endorsement (May 2012) by the Committee on World Food Security of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security. The Bank is also working to pilot the Principles of Responsible Agricultural Investment, which will contribute to the two-year consultation process of the Committee on World Food Security. More information on this issue and the World Bank’s response is covered in a separate brief, Land Policy: Securing Land Tenure Rights to Reduce Poverty and Promote Growth.PartnersThe evolving global context, with increased food price volatility and climate change, calls for stronger collective action to alleviate these impacts on the world’s poor. Some emerging issues of great policy and financial interest to clients transcend national or regional dimensions, and are consistent with the special role of the WBG as an institution that is multilateral, multiregional, multisectoral and multidimensional, offering both financing and knowledge products. This comparative advantage is relevant to cases as diverse as dealing with the drivers and impacts of the 2008 food price crisis, dealing with migratory fish stocks or inter-regional knowledge exchange as on food safety. Some global partnerships focus on building technical consensus on how to proceed with large amounts of technical consultations and assistance, and others focus on increasing the financial input to specific types of solutions through recipient-executed projects. The World Bank Group has increasingly forged partnerships of both sorts to address global issues in agriculture that complement our country-level support through: provision of knowledge to help shape debate on global public goods (especially those that affect country-level programs); improved coordination of activities and knowledge with global partners; continued consultations across stakeholders; and additional resource mobilization. Some examples include:Agricultural production and food security: In addition to the rapid response GFRP, the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) was launched to address funding gaps in longer-term agriculture and food security strategic investment plans already being developed by countries in consultation with donors and other stakeholders. The GAFSP includes both a public and private sector financing window. As of January 2014, the public sector window has made allocations to 25 countries totaling US$912 million in recipient-executed grants plus supervision fees. The private sector window has awarded US$45 million to 11 investment projects and US$4 million to 17 advisory services projects. In addition, the World Bank Group is coordinating with UN agencies through the High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis and with non-governmental organizations, and supports the partnership for Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) to improve food market transparency and help governments make informed responses to global food price spikes.Nutrition: The Scaling-Up Nutrition (SUN) framework for action to address under-nutrition was endorsed by over 100 partners, including the World Bank. All new agricultural project proposals are being evaluated at entry for potential to include explicit nutritional outcomes.Agricultural research: The World Bank supports critical global public goods by funding and collaborating with CGIAR, a global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research with the funders of this work to reduce rural poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and health, and sustainably manage natural resources. CGIAR is a leader in climate-smart agriculture and produces cutting-edge science to develop innovative solutions, tools, and technologies to meet the needs of poor smallholder farmers in developing countries. CGIAR doubled its funding from $500 million in 2008 to $1 billion in 2013 (leveraging the World Bank’s contribution by a factor of 20).Rural finance: The World Bank and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation established an Agriculture Finance Support Facility to support the replication or scaling-up of profitable rural finance business models and the generation of knowledge and learning about these models. Marine fisheries: To improve governance and sustainable livelihoods in the fisheries sector, the World Bank, in association with key donors and stakeholders, established the Global Partnership for Oceans and the Alliance for Responsible Fisheries.Animal diseases: To address the global impacts of emerging and re-emerging diseases of animal origin on public health, food security, trade and livelihoods, the World Bank is partnering with the World Health Organization, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), and other partners to strengthen public health and veterinary systems worldwide to better prevent and control zoonotic diseases. Addressing animal disease and improved land tenure are two critical aspects of securing the assets of the rural poor.Food safety: Globalization of the food supply has resulted in food safety risks being widely extended beyond domestic borders and has serious implications for public health and trade. Building on the work initiated under the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Food Safety Cooperation Forum (FSCF), the World Bank Group is facilitating the creation of a new multi-stakeholder Global Food Safety Partnership (GFSP) to support food safety capacity building around the world. Key partners include international organizations (WHO, FAO, OIE, the UN Industrial Development Organization, the World Trade Organization), private sector firms and associations, technical service providers, and government agencies. Forestry: The World Bank is working to coordinate partnership activities, in order to increase financing of and improve the governance and positive impacts of forest sector activities. The Bank is working closely with FAO on the new Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) partnership, which follows on the work of the Growing Forest Partnerships supported by the Bank. The FFF aims to promote partnerships among national governments, civil society organizations, development and financing agencies, and the private sector in support of sustainable forest management at the landscape level and create a platform for civil society to engage in national forest policy formulation. In addition, the World Bank participates in the multi-donor partnership Program on Forest (PROFOR) that implements cutting-edge analysis and partnership activities. The Bank also participates, as one of multiple multilateral development banks, in the delivery of Climate Investment Funds, such as the Forestry Investment Program, and hosts the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility.Moving ForwardIn recognition of the evolving global context, the new World Bank Group Agricultural Action Plan gives more emphasis to:Developing climate-smart agriculture, within the theme of agricultural productivity growth, including increasing the share of IBRD/IDA/IFC agriculture lending and investments that supports climate change adaptation and mitigation, such as development and adoption of more drought and flood tolerant plant varieties; and support for animal and forest management systems that reduce greenhouse emissions;Facilitating private sector response, including, but not limited to, increasing IFC’s agribusiness investments;Pursuing agriculture risk management more explicitly, including increasing the number of country-level agriculture sector risk assessments, and continued development of new market-based risk hedging instruments for farmers;Giving greater attention to nutritional outcomes of agricultural actions, including increasing the share of agriculture projects with an explicit focus on nutrition;Increasing the use of landscape approaches, including increasing the number of projects that combine agriculture, water, forestry, and biodiversity complementarities; andWorking on governance, including strengthening analytical work to understand the nature of political and institutional constraints to improving agriculture performance, and support to improve the governance of land tenure.BeneficiariesThe World Bank plays a critical role in reaching the rural poor and hungry through using agriculture for development. A concrete example demonstrates what is at stake.Malathi Devi is a 40-year old mother of five children, three sons and two daughters, from the village of Aima in Bihar (India). Like most women of the Musahar community, a landless group of people traditionally dependent on forests who now work as casual laborers, Malathi was married at around 10 years of age. Malathi used to cultivate her tiny land of 0.05 acres and worked as a wage laborer for farmers with large land holdings ─ her compensation was three kilos of grain per day of labor. But the farming season lasts for only about three months out of the year. During this time, Malathi’s responsibilities ranged from planting, weeding, cropping and beating the grains. During non-farming months, she would seek casual jobs on construction sites or brick making factories as most people from Musahar communities do. When a Village Resource Person of the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project supported by IDA told Malathi about the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) ─ a scientific technique for increasing the productivity of irrigated rice cultivation by changing the management of plants, soil, water and nutrients ─ Malathi decided to give it a shot. With her hopes high, she also acquired 0.17 acres of additional land on lease to reap the benefits of SRI. Based on technical support from a non-governmental organization working in partnership with the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project, Malathi chose better rice seeds and fertilizers. The yield was 60 percent more using SRI than the traditional method before. Now Malathi has food security year round and additional cash in hand. Show Less -

This paper explains the major issues and
lessons derived from the national forest management program
and REDD+ initiatives in Tanzania. It finds that addressing
the... Show More + most important drivers of forest degradation and
deforestation, in particular the country energy needs and
landownership, is essential for success in reducing
emissions regardless of the type of program implemented. It
also finds that, through the national program, forest users
have learned to maximize profit from the sustainable use of
the forest; however, the program reports great variability
in the success of forest conservation. REDD+ may complement
the national program by adding funding and other resources
to start projects at the local level while giving additional
payments for the permanence of carbon stocks may help to
improve the social outcomes of those villages practicing
sustainable forest management. However, a careful
characterization of the national projects is necessary to
generalize how REDD+ can be effectively implemented so that
additional economic and environmental benefits are generated
over what the national program is already achieving.
Addressing this issue is key for identifying the conditions
under which REDD+ achieves environmental additionality in Tanzania. Show Less -

BeneficiariesStella Kariuki, who participated in infoDev’s Mobile Startup Camp, founded Zege Technologies in 2010 to offer small and medium enterprises (SMEs) pay-bill numbers and mobile money point o... Show More +f sales solutions to help make transactions paperless. Zege Technologies focuses on building financial solutions software for mobile, web, and point of sale integration. Its core product is MPAYER, which is a cloud-based payment service that helps local businesses, organizations and shoppers accept and manage real-time cash or mobile money payments, while collecting customer feedback. Thus far Zege Technologies has worked with 100 companies and served about 3,000 clients at the Base of the Pyramid. Stella has plans to expand the Kenyan customer base, promote regional expansion, and positively impact businesses in Kenya and within the region.Peter Chege initially worked as an analytical chemist at a pharmaceutical company in Kenya, but in 2002 he decided to venture out on his own and produce animal feed. Frustrated by the low quality of raw grain he was receiving from his suppliers, Peter began to utilize hydroponic technology as a more efficient and reliable way of growing the cereals used in his animal feed. Hydroponics grows crops without soil, by using the mineral nutrient solutions in water. Although hydroponics relies primarily on water, a scarce resource in the region, studies have indicated that the system is at least 10 times more efficient in water usage in comparison to field farming. Only starting to install hydroponics systems in 2012, Peter has already built more than 60 sheds in Kenya and a few in Uganda, with plans to expand into Rwanda. With the assistance of the Kenya CIC he has grown and diversified his business offerings while expanding access to his hydroponic systems for interested farmers.Randa Filfili, who owns and manages Zena Exotic Fruits, is the first Senegalese jam producer to export “niche” products, such as cashew apple butter and baobab jam, to markets in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Initially producing a range of quality fruit spreads for the local market, Randa became aware of an opportunity to expand Zena’s offering when she learned that local rural farmers produced cashews for export, but did nothing with the fruit these trees produced. The company seized the opportunity and worked with a team of food technologists, marketers, and chefs to develop a value-added product with a commodity that was viewed as having no commercial value. With a new model and a unique product, Zena is now able to export its all-natural cashew apple butter to satisfied consumers around the world. Show Less -

WASHINGTON and NAIROBI, February 6, 2014 — The World Bank is concerned about reports on the plight of the people currently being evicted in the Embobut Forest and Cherangany Hills areas of Kenya.... Show More + The World Bank is not linked to these evictions and nor has the World Bank ever supported evictions through its development financing of Kenya’s Natural Resources Management Project (NRMP) which closed on June 30, 2013. The World Bank stands ready to assist the Government of Kenya with its development advice drawing on its local and global project experiences, and to share best practices in resettlement in line with its safeguard policies. These seek to improve or restore the living standards of people affected by involuntary resettlement. The World Bank is committed to complete openness and transparency in all its operations. Prior to the project closing, community complaints about the NRMP have led to an investigation by the World Bank’s independent Inspection Panel. The Inspection Panel, which reports to the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors, is expected to complete its investigation in the first quarter of 2014. The Panel’s findings and Management Response will then be discussed by the Bank's Board and the decision will be announced publicly through a press release and the respective reports will be publicly disclosed. Full details of the Request for Inspection and Bank Management’s Response on the NRMP are available online at the Inspection Panel website, www.inspectionpanel.org The World Bank works closely with the Kenyan government and the country’s communities to achieve higher economic growth, create more jobs, improve food and energy, support better health care and, help protect the environment, while delivering better development prospects for all Kenyans. Show Less -

WASHINGTON, December 6, 2013 - The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved US$121.42 million in grants to support the Government of Mali as it works to rehabilitate basic infrast... Show More +ructure and restore productive economic activity, and address climate change impacts while building resiliency in communities that have been impacted by the country’s recent crisis.“Mali is now on the path to recovery as key milestones have been reached towards the resolution of the recent political and security crises,” said Ousmane Diagana, World Bank Country Director for Mali. “We are delighted to support the Government’s plans and actions to rebuild infrastructure and promote climate change resiliency. Today’s projects will contribute towards reducing the vulnerability of the many communities and families affected by the multiple impacts of the crisis.”The first International Development Association (IDA)* grant of $US100 million will support the Mali Government’s Reconstruction and Economic Recovery Project, and will contribute directly to the recovery objectives set by the Government in the 2013-14 Plan for the Sustainable Recovery of Mali (Plan pour la Relance Durable du Mali, PRED).The Reconstruction and Economic Recovery Project will primarily focus on the rehabilitation of existing schools and education facilities, and also finance the infrastructure needs of local governments in the South that are host to internally displaced people affected by the crisis. This targeted support for service delivery will allow the conflict affected population to overcome the loss of productive assets and reinstate access to public infrastructure and services.“The Reconstruction and Economic Recovery Project will promote engagement, dialogue and coordination among key stakeholders, especially at the community level in the planning and implementation oversight of investments, and in the process lay the foundations for greater social cohesion and local governance,” explained Zié Coulibaly, World Bank Senior Infrastructure Specialist and project Task Team Leader.The second grant of US$21.42 million will fund Mali’s Natural Resources Management in a Changing Climate (NRMCC) project, designed to expand the use of sustainable land and water management practices in certain communities that are highly vulnerable to climate change impacts such as drought, land degradation, deforestation and flooding.The NRMCC funding includes an IDA* contribution of US$12 million, an additional US$6.57 million from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), and US$1.85 million from the Less Developed Countries Fund (LDCF). The Mali Government will provide US$1 million.“The NRMCC Project will achieve its objective through the implementation of capacity building, biodiversity conservation and support to poverty reduction activities through an ecosystem-based adaptation approach,” said Maman Sani Issa, Senior Environmental Specialist and World Bank Task Team Leader for the project. “This ecosystem-based approach integrates conservation, restoration and the sustainable management of territories to enable people to adapt to climate change and ultimately to increase their resilience.”*The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world’s poorest countries by providing loans (called “credits”) and grants for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 81 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Resources from IDA bring positive change for 2.5 billion people living on less than $2 a day. Since 1960, IDA has supported development work in 108 countries. Annual commitments have increased steadily and averaged about $15 billion over the last three years, with about 50 percent of commitments going to Africa. Show Less -

ADDIS ABABA, August 30, 2013 - Ethiopia, a country highly vulnerable to extreme weather events, land degradation, deforestation and food insecurity, is stepping up its efforts to fight climate change,... Show More + promote sustainable rural development and build resilience. Today, two agreements were signed between the Government of Norway and the World Bank to provide significant financing for sustainable land management, climate-smart agriculture and forest protection in the country. The first agreement injects an additional US$50 million grant funds from the Government of Norway through a trust fund to co-finance the Sustainable Land Management Program (SLMP II) aimed at reducing land degradation and increasing land productivity of smallholder farmers.In the second agreement, Norway provides US$13 million through the World Bank’s BioCarbon Fund (BioCF) to support Ethiopia’s Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) Facility and to promote climate-smart agriculture, forest protection and land rehabilitation at the landscape level. Norway’s contribution complements initial funding of US$5 million from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), and ongoing financing from the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). "Norway is pleased to collaborate with the World Bank in supporting Ethiopia's ambitious efforts to fight land degradation, deforestation and climate change while promoting sustainable development in the land use sector. The two complementary programs have the potential to protect the natural resource endowment and to promote climate-smart land use in order to adapt and mitigate climate change and increase food security and resilience in a vast area of the country," said Tove Stub, Charge d`affaires a.i., Royal Norwegian Embassy in Addis Ababa.Under SLMP II, the Government of Ethiopia is building on the remarkable progress achieved during implementation of the program’s first phase in reducing land degradation and increasing sustainable land and water productivity. Under SLMP I, which started in 2008, over 190,000 hectares of degraded communal and individual farmlands have been rehabilitated and agricultural productivity has improved in areas that were hitherto found to be less productive. SLMP II, a blended IDA credit (US$50 million) and GEF grant (US$14 million) with co-financing from Norway (US$50 million), scales up earlier achievements.The ongoing process to reduce deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), a key pillar of Ethiopia’s fight against climate change, will be significantly strengthened with support from the BioCarbon Fund. This program will enable Ethiopia to fully finance its ongoing REDD+ readiness process and to develop a REDD+ pilot program at a Regional State level. It will also provide advisory services to the CRGE Facility, in particular to enhance access to climate finance for REDD+ and other land-based activities."These funds will allow Ethiopia to become ready for REDD+ and will provide for an ambitious landscape-level program to address the causes of deforestation in the most forested region of our country, while also promoting social benefits to local communities,” said H. E. Sileshi Getahun, State Minister, Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture.The BioCF’s new initiative provides an important boost to the activities of the CRGE Facility, which was established by the Government of Ethiopia to spearhead national efforts to reach carbon neutrality by 2025. "The World Bank expects that these two initiatives, including others not mentioned here, will contribute significantly to Ethiopia's efforts to deal with three of the most daunting challenges of our times: land degradation, deforestation and climate change. It is also a good opportunity for the Bank to share its global expertise on climate finance to provide advisory support to the CRGE Facility. These two initiatives strengthen the Bank's partnership for Ethiopia's sustainable development,” said Guang Zhe Chen, World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia. Show Less -

KINSHASA, MAY 15, 2013_The Central Africa Forests Commission (COMIFAC) and the World Bank are holding a two-day regional conference in Kinshasa, on May 15-16, 2013, to discuss findings and policy reco... Show More +mmendations from a study on Deforestation Trends in the Congo Basin: Reconciling Economic Growth and Forest Protection. The study is the output of a three-year research effort requested by COMIFAC to strengthen understanding of deforestation dynamics and trends in the sub-region across a variety of economic sectors.Deforestation rates in the Congo Basin are still low compared to those observed in other tropical forests (for example the Amazon, forests in Indonesia, or other sub-regions of Africa), but have accelerated in recent years. Annual rates of both degradation and deforestation have almost doubled from 1990-2000 to 2000-2005.Based on the forest transition theory, which correlates a rise in economic growth with higher deforestation rates, the Congo Basin may well be entering a stage of accelerated forest losses.So far, deforestation and forest degradation have been largely associated with the expansion of subsistence activities (agriculture and energy) and concentrated around densely populated areas. But the situation is likely to change.Local and regional development, population increases and global demand for commodities are likely to increase deforestation and forest degradation in the Congo Basin -- but a number of no-regrets policy actions could help countries avoid a steep drop in forest cover and steer growth in a “forest-friendly” manner.The study provides an in-depth analysis of the main drivers of deforestation in the Congo Basin by 2030 in key sectors (agriculture, energy, forestry, infrastructure and mining). It proposes a number of “no-regrets” actions that participants will debate with a view to informing policymaking in the region. For example, Congo Basin countries could almost double their cultivated area without converting any forested areas by primarily targeting agricultural activities towards degraded and non-forested land. More broadly, participatory land use planning could help clarify trade-offs among different sectors, encourage the development of growth poles and corridors, and direct habitat-encroaching activities away from forests that have ecological value. “The Congo Basin has a huge growth potential and unique forest wealth. The study sought to sound the alarm and provoke thinking about how to achieve “forest-friendly” growth. The right choices must be made today in order to promote the sustainable growth of tomorrow,” says Carole Mégevand, a World Bank Forestry Expert, the principal author of the study.“By reconciling the development of their economies and the preservation of their forest capital, these countries could “leapfrog” the sharp drop in forest cover that has traditionally accompanied development and make a global contribution to reducing the greenhouse effects associated with deforestation,” said Jamal Saghir, the Director of the World Bank Sustainable Development Department for the Africa Region. According to Mr. Raymond Mbitikon, the Executive Secretary of COMIFAC, “We have the tools at our disposal to act in a targeted way and take a stand in favor of sustainable development.” The study was coordinated by the World Bank and benefited from financial support from various donors, including the Program on Forests, the Norwegian Trust Fund for Private Sector and Infrastructure, the United Kingdom Government, the Trust Fund for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development and the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility. Show Less -